Penpals Forever

Description

The story of a mouse and elephant who become pen pals despite some minor size differences. CK Smouha is the author of Born Bad, Sock Story and Iced Out (Cicada 2018 and 2019). Freddy the mouse is practising his skateboarding when a vast, white shape descends from the sky. It's a huge letter from a science-loving elephant called Annabel! The two begin a correspondence in which they learn about each other's very different lifestyle. One day, Freddy's letters stop coming and Annabel must go to the big city to help him out of a pickle. This is a madcap romp about two friends who could not be more different. Hilarious illustrations play with scale discrepancies and are complemented by die cuts, flaps and special colours, bringing a message of tolerance and acceptance to life. Don't be fooled by Penpals Forever: this hilarious book with cool illustrations actually conveys a serious message about tolerance and friendship, however different you might be from one another. -- School Librarian At its heart there is a lovely story about overcoming differences and distances to be friends - something it often seems like the whole world could do with learning! -- Father Reading and T This is a fun book that's ultimate message is about accepting and tolerating differences, looking out for each other and, quite simply, how to be a good friend. -- Armadillo Children's Book Review Magazine

Jurg Lindenberger is a surfer, skateboarder and illustrator living in Basel. He has been instrumental in the development of Anorak Magazine and has an impressive client roster ranging from Google to So Young Magazine by way of Word Skateboards.

BOOKLIST REVIEW: Lindenberger illustrates this episode of interspecies amity with cartoon drawings of anthropomorphic, rubbery-limbed animals and with easily legible, block-printed exchanges that exemplify the sort of coherent prose that texting often discourages. As in Smouha's Sock Story (2019), the tale's enjoyable on its own, but there's plenty going on between the lines too. YS BOOK REVIEW: The artwork in this story will be very entertaining for children. The graphics are colorful and there are comments and thought bubbles happening throughout the pages-almost like a comic. There is a lot to take in on each page and children will have fun looking at all the small details. This book is perfect for children over the age of five years old. I would especially recommend it to children who enjoy a "busy" book with text, dialogue, interesting pictures, letters, and all kinds of fun things happening on each page. It is not really a story to rush through, but instead to take some time looking at all the little details on each page. Cute story with entertaining illustrations. ARMADILLO MAGAZINE REVIEW: Each of Jurg Lindenberger's pages are brightly illustrated and the illustrations cleverly play with size and scale. The energy of life in the big city is demonstrated by the busyness of the pages and the pictures are complemented by die cuts, flaps and an amazing use of interesting colours. This is a fun book that's ultimate message is about accepting and tolerating differences, looking out for each other and, quite simply, how to be a good friend. This book would be a welcomed addition to any child's bookshelf, in the primary age range and their grown-up alike! THE LITERACY TREE REVIEW: It's not hard to see why this book has been described as "A riotous tale of scale and snail mail!" with cute and quirky illustrations. The story's message around acceptance and finding a way past differences is clear. With lift flaps and die-cut sections, this would be a really lovely book for children in years 2 and 3 to read independently. LUMINOUS LIBRO REVIEW: I loved the clever story so much! The writing is excellent, and the characters are fun. It's a delight from start to finish! IMAGINATION SOUP REVIEW: I love this darling story of unexpected pen pals -- an elephant and a mouse -- who become good friends through their letter writing. They even travel to visit each other in real life -- and help each other with the difficulties they are having. Cartoon, pastel illustrations. FATHER READING & T REVIEW: This week we received some #bookpost from a new (to us) publisher and T decided tonight was the night to give them a whirl, picking out PenPals Forever for his bedtime story. So what we have here is a really cool, fun book. At its heart there is a lovely story about overcoming differences and distances to be friends - something it often seems like the whole world could do with learning! There is lots of silliness and fun with some nice bits of learning sneakily added in, something we both enjoyed and the bonus of promoting letter writing (T's mummy was a penpal addict when she was a child so this is something she will firmly be onboard with). This gives plenty of scope for use in the classroom. The star attraction for me though was the illustrations. These are very cool and completely original, with loads of appeal for older readers who will like the quirky styling! T told me, "that was fun and I liked how the clever elephant and mouse beat the bad guys!" CONSORTIUM KIDS MAGAZINE REVIEW: Vivid neon illustrations bring the pair's madcap adventures to life, and the story offers a touching message of tolerance and acceptance.